Your Web Page Design Guide: What You Need To Know

You may wonder if it is necessary to use costly and unique web templates to create your site. The answer to that depends on how deep you want to dive into the field. To avoid the most labor intensive and specialized areas of design, you’ll need to use special software and probably use a third party for some of the work. However, if you want to do it yourself and are willing to put forth the effort, then these web page design tips are for you.

Ensure your website can pass the NoScript test. Download the NoScript extension on the Firefox web browser and activate it to see if your website can still be read. Some stuff won’t work unless there are scripts.

A successful website needs to work for visitors using any browser, so it is important to test your web pages to make sure they display properly in different browsers. Some things that work in Internet Explorer might not work correctly in Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Prior to going live with your website, see how your pages look on every popular browser.

A great way to get repeat visitors to your site, is by having them subscribe to your newsletter. When you allow visitors to subscribe to your website’s newsletter for updates, they will be more likely to come back to your site. Put your sign up form on your site’s sidebar to keep track of how many people sign up. Your newsletter should only go out to those who specifically request to receive it, or you run the risk of turning off your customers.

Broken Links

Different topics should not inhabit the same page. Keep different topics on different pages. Your content will be more readable to your visitors and more visible to search engines, resulting in higher rankings.

Check your pages for broken links. A visitor will get very annoyed when they click on a link that takes them to either a blank page or one that gives them an error. You could check for broken links yourself, or get a program that scans and reports broken links for you.

Avoid using a variety of fonts on your site. Also consider how the fonts look on a regular screen. Small serif fonts are harder to read. Vedrdana is a great font that you can use to make your content easier to read.

Your website should be able to be scanned without problems. Most people do not read all the text on a website; instead, they scan for interesting tidbits. Divide your content into sections that readers can readily scan and your visitors will come back for more. Put the pertinent information near the top of your page. This helps make sure that visitors get the information they need in the quickest way possible.

Master your subject matter fully before you try to share it on the internet. If you’re going to use your site to blog or something like that, you must know what you are talking about. Providing bad information will only lose you readers. Knowing your subject thoroughly will make your blog good.

Keep the front page of your site simple. Internet shoppers do, indeed, judge your site by its cover. Don’t add unnecessary distractions that hide the essence of what you offer to your customer.

Be certain to have a way to receive feedback from site users. If you have forgotten something or have made an element of your site confusing to use, they will be able to tell you. Making your visitors feel involved is a great way to ensure that they will visit your site again.

You should utilize free resources to build your website. Oftentimes, people erroneously believe that shareware is inefficient for certain tasks. However, there are many free programs designed to help you keep your website neat and current. A basic Internet search should produce a number of free design programs from which you can choose.

Don’t use frames if you want a site search engines can crawl! Although users like pages that include frames, the information inside does not show up in search engines. When information isn’t seen, your ranking with the search engines goes lower. You will lose out on visitors, if this happens.

Test early and test often to maintain accuracy. This is to make sure your site will be easier to perform maintenance on. Be sure things keep getting worked on as you let your website get larger.

Your user’s needs should be your top priority. As a web designer, it is your job to always keep your attention tuned to the needs of your user. This includes user experience, usability, user interaction, and accessibility. You should think about all these things as you do your job. Always view the design from the vistor’s perspective.

Create a comprehensive “About Us” page. Most websites don’t have very interesting copy in this area. Get your visitors engaged! Aim to give visitors a small glimpse of your personal background. Demonstrate how you began web page design, the people who inspired you to do this, and what your business goals are.

The types of files that you use for the graphics on your website will affect the size of the files, which will also affect how fast your website loads. GIF’s are much easier to utilize on your site. PNG and BMP files are probably better for web graphics, but they also use much more disk space. Make your files manageable to keep loading times down for visitors.

One thing you want to think twice about is a website counter located on your page, as they have more negatives than positives. While you might think that it’s adding something to your site, it’s really something that your visitors don’t want to see. Ditch the counter and use tracking software instead.

Keep in mind that your resources for web design are practically limitless since they can be found throughout the Internet. There are thousands, if not millions, of websites waiting for you to browse and wait for inspiration to strike. Find one you like, write down what appeals to you and then figure out what you can mimic on your own. Remember that if you want your website to succeed, you will need to do more than just borrow an idea. Take those ideas and improve them.

Subscribe to a newsletter with information on website development to keep you up to date on the latest trends. There are many newsletters that will provide good information and tips for both beginners and seasoned web designers!

A website counter is outdated and not attractive. Although it may be something that you find valuable, your visitors are not interested in seeing it. Ditch the counter and use tracking software instead.

Your best bet is going to be to start small, and move up to larger websites. This way you can easily see what you’re good at, and what you need to work on. You want to start off with maybe a couple of pages that are basic with just information and text, and see how you feel from there.

PhotoShop is a popular application and web designers must learn it. On the other hand, Dreamweaver is lesser known, and many people are unaware of the benefits it has for web designers. It’s important to get to know this application and learn how it can aid your design.

As part of your website planning, survey your target audience regarding what features they would prefer to see on the new site. This will assist with the overall design of your website in a positive way. Any advice from the audience is important for your website.

Take care to differentiate your website design from others in the same genre as you. Take a look at your competitors’ websites. Having a similar website won’t make you stand out in the crowd. You will only be seen as a copycat of the one that was up previously.

Take literacy levels into account when you write site content. They have not all graduated from college or even high school, for example. When expanding your audience, you want to develop content they understand.

Use your artistic skills to design websites. Look for inspiration and adapt your ideas to your business goals. Draw sketches for possible design ideas when you think of something interesting. If inspiration strikes at the office, VPN to your home computer and put the idea in a text file so you can use it later.

Multiple Platforms

Ensure that your site’s search box is close to the top of your webpage and that it contains a minimum of 27 characters. The button that turns on the engine should read “Search.” Those perusing your site, maybe even for the first time, will want a simple way to gain access to information via a search button.

Competency with multiple platforms will come in handy if you intend to set up multiple websites. Learning Java, MySQL, PHP and other platforms is going to help you for years to come. Take the time to develop skills that can be applied across multiple platforms, regardless of whether your needs are personal or professional.

Look to make any interface tools as user friendly as possible. Be sure links that were previously clicked on changes color and that underlined text is clickable. Visitors will stay longer on your page and will be much more likely to return to your site when you provide consistency and conventions that are user friendly.

Videos on your site won’t be accessible to all viewers, including those with slower Internet connections. You may feel that your videos look their best when you stream them out at 5,000 kb/s, but a user with a much slower connection is not going to enjoy the experience. You will end up giving them a video that spools and buffers constantly, and the viewing experience will be quite slow.

Much sure you allocate a little time each day for your website development. While working on bits and pieces in brief spates can be productive, to accomplish real goals you’ll have to invest some real hours. As you progress, you’ll find that working for solid chunks of time on your personal sites will also help you remember information that you need to finish your projects.

When making many pages in a sub-category of your site, remember that copying and pasting can be your best friend. When you can re-use pre-existing code with only a few minor tweaks in each different page, generating all-new HTML code over and over is a waste of time. You can continuously work from that master copy.

Inspiration can come in a variety of formats. Children’s art projects, print magazines, TV and more can provide interesting ideas. Keep an eye out for any new ideas, as you never know when inspiration will strike and you will create new unique content for your users to enjoy.

Search Engines

As you finalize your site design and make sure it will be successful, ensure you have incorporated logos from affiliates or organizations that are important for you. Even if it just your seal from the BBB, everything helps to assure the authenticity and legitimacy of your business.

Make use of a site map for your website. A site map does a couple things. It makes navigation easier for visitors. Visitors can see what they want and what is offered through one easy map. Two, site maps make optimization for search engines easier. Search engines find it easier to locate your site and “crawl” it.

Ask any web design firm you are considering for references. A company with no references should be avoided. You want a company that has been doing business for a number of years.

Look to make any interface tools as user friendly as possible. Clickable text should be underlined. Once it has been clicked, it should change colors. A user friendly site that maintains consistency will prompt visitors to stay on your site longer and visit frequently.

Avoid hiring family members to work on your website design. Don’t hire a loved one to create your website. If for some reason their work is poor, you may find it difficult to let this person go.

Learning website design is not a skill that requires a professional degree or brain surgery. It is not necessary to enroll in classes, and there are never life or death consequences involved. Use all of the advice from this article to learn what it takes to get into web design.

If you are considering hiring someone else to design your site, it is highly recommended that you find one that allows you to pay in installments as opposed to all of the money upfront. A company is more likely to perform better if it’s getting paid in installments, since they know they need to please you in order to get paid.